In many professions, as well as recreational endeavors, information is provided in the form of periodical printed publications. Such publications may be provided in the form of journals providing scholarly guidance, catalogs providing detailed information regarding merchandise available for purchase, magazines providing sundry information, etc. The rate at which these publications are produced can be as frequent as, for example, daily, weekly, or monthly, and can thus result in a substantial time commitment in terms of review, as well as a substantial space requirement in terms of storage.
Many techniques and methods have therefore been developed for marking individual pages or sections of such publications for later reference. Some of these methods and techniques include the process of "dog-earing" the corner of a particular page of interest, or underlining, highlighting, or annotating sections of the publication. These methods can refresh the memory of the reviewer if later found, but detrimentally affect the appearance and condition of the printed publication. Alternatively, a self-adhesive label, such as a POST-IT.RTM. brand label, available from 3M Corporation, St. Paul, Minn. can be adhered to a relevant page with personalized notes or the like.
Another reference-aid apparatus and method is disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,011,189, which provides a publication reference aid system in the form of detachable labels. More specifically, individual labels are initially attached to an inside page or the outside surface of a printed publication and are removable along a scored line between the label and a tongue portion permanently glued to the publication. The label can therefore be torn from the publication along the scored line and, through the use of a releasable adhesive strip provided on the label, be adhered to a relevant page within the publication. Before doing so, a separate covering page or strip must be removed to expose the adhesive. Such a device therefore produces unwanted and wasteful material in the form of the covering strip, and also requires a relatively complicated method for manufacturing in that, among other things, the label and tongue portion must be separately produced and glued to the publication.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,507,901 discloses a method of manufacturing integrated labels wherein a sheet of paper is provided with linear sections of release coating and pressure sensitive adhesive divided by a line of demarcation. The pressure sensitive adhesive area is folded over onto the release coating along the line of demarcation and later cut into individual labels or sheets. The patent is directed to integrated sheets of labels, and is not for use in conjunction with printed publications, nor are the labels integrated into a printed publication.